Tumbledown (near Lake Parlin, not Weld) ME

After watching the Cs self destruct last night (agonizing), i left to wing NW about 3AM (the sleep issue is becoming a problem )--passed thru Skowhegan, up Rt 201 thru Bingham and the Forks,then turned in the Hardscrabble/Spencer Rd
at Lake Parlin. The flow of log/chip trucks steaming south on 201 is amazing at 4AM--Strangely, there is cell service in Lake Parlin, but not Jackman (Jackman the small rural outpost near the border, Lake Parlin really "nothing there" on the way).

I drove the Spencer Rd (dirt, in good shape as have been most ME dirt roads this Spring) about 20 miles past #5 and #6 then swung in a smaller log road. This road appeared to be problematic, but was actually very good though it sported high vegetation. I had to clear a number of blowdowns, but there were no washouts or missing culverts. If you're a 3k person, you can now drive in about 2-3 with few worries (of course that's all relative, now isn't it -you need to be a just bit off kilter to be driving these roads and climbing these peaks in the first place ). Three Slide Mountain (with its namesake features) was prominent as i approached.

Tumbledown 3588'
I parked NW of the peak and started up thru old logging activity(thanks DR) -slash with much veg growing over it, tuff on the ankles. The people i know who have done Tumbledown have come in either from the N/NE or from the Eustis end off the Hanynestown Road, usually while doing Leroy and 3 Slide (any of these approachs is way in dirt driving). This NW approach is a good one.

Soon i turned into the woods about 0.5 miles from the peak and was able to follow badly overgrow logging/skid roads for a bit and then moved into moderate density woods. The ascent was fairly steep, but thick only in spots. I passed a band of small "cliffs" (perhaps only 20' high, but with "you could accidentally walk of these on the way down" type thickness and i made note to self to be wary descending.

Arriving at an openish top, i saw the fire tower skeleton (1914), no cab (silly me, had no clue). The jar was held on the tower frame with a large hose clamp and in it were the usual recent 3K suspects-The Mayor, Mark and OneStep (they placed the current register), Nate, DR, Albee,Marc, PP, MJ, NDave, Ryman-nobody in about a year). I (foolishly?) climbed the deteriorating straight up ladder and was rewarded with a hazy, panoramic view of #5, #6, Crispo, 3 Slide, Leroy, King, Peaked, Spencer Bale, Kibby (so much closer to Kibby/Spencer Bale than i thought). I'm not sure why there were 3 fire tower in a line so close together (Kibby, Tumbledown, #5) I suspect Tumbledown (1914) may have been replaced by #5 (1933)-fire tower guys??.

A quick descent, bisected the "cliffs"-lost my line and got into thick stuff parallel to old logging fingers, but was back at the car before 9. Bag Pond was my next closest quarry, but i really needed a "short" day and started the 3 1/2 hour journey home. While driving and pulling the usual balsam needles off my body, I felt what i was sure was a tick attached on the back side of my shoulder where i couldn't see it. Stopped at my PCP on the way home; female deer tick, well attached, not engorged-just another fun day in the woods.

This was a pretty easy (again, all relative) ascent and a return to fun hikes/climbs

11

jim

Hey Jim -

Sounds like another good day in the woods. I remember Tumbledown from an early 90s ascent from the south looking for the old watchman's trail and camp site. A long walk in from gated roads and an "interesting" trip up. At least there are views from the tower once on top if you have weather on your side.

Tumbledown (1910) and Kibby (1906) ran as companion towers until 1933 when #5 went in and Tumbledown was disbanded and made an emergency only lookout. These 2 were needed due to blind spots, even at that proximity. Number 5 replaced Tumbledown in 1933.

Did you get any looks at the Kibby Wind Farm from there?

Bill

Bill--thanks for heads up on towers

forgot to mention that while on top i saw what i suspect was the old fire warden's trail headed down on the Haynestown Rd side--absolutely covered in moose scat

trees have grown high around tower--no views from ground level--could see wind turbines if you went far enough up the ladder which is rusted and starting to "break" here and there (trees particularly high on that side), but was awfully hazy and i had better closeup views going in Golden Brook Rd to climb Merrill a few weeks ago

jim

We never did find the trail back then, but got to the summit via compass after wandering around for a while!

All sources I can find (including an old watchman) have the old watchman's trail going SW from the summit and then south down to a trailhead that was an old jeep road near Cold Brook.

Bill

Has anybody been up #5 recently? The last time I was there was in 2003, when I actually climbed it twice, once with showshoes, once without a couple months later. The fire tower at the time was deteriorating but still climbable, though there were a couple hairy spots going up. I wonder how the past 7 years have treated it?

Chris

BillDC said:

I remember Tumbledown from an early 90s ascent from the south looking for the old watchman's trail and camp site. A long walk in from gated roads and an "interesting" trip up.

Click to expand...

I climbed Tumbledown from Spencer Bale and Beaudry Rd, but when I climbed W Three Slide we started up the old watchmans trail from Rock Pond shown on the 15' quad and there was what looked like a telephone box next to the road.

re: #5:
A year ago at this time we found the old firewarden's trail had been cleared of encroaching brush and overhanging trees. But whoever did the cutting simply left the dead tree trunks and limbs strewn across the trail, necessitating frequent bushwhack bypasses. Still, it was easy to follow and the views at the top were tremendous.

For #5 -

The fire tower is still there as of this May. The stairs are in tough shape, but am told climbable. The cab on the top has no roof.

The Nature Conservancy owns the trail now and they cleared it last year. The trail was in really bad shape prior to clearing, but it sounds like they may be clearing it in phases. Hopefully they will go back up this year and finish the job.

Bill